Prince Yi¡¯s palace compound is on Xiertiao Street, one-third of Chang¡¯an City away from the Yanwu Academy. The scale of this palace is not very grand. He is a prince who has been enfeoffed. The prince's palace was built according to specifications in the fiefdom of Jiaoxi. The palace in Chang'an City is only a temporary residence. However, this temporary residence became Yang Yin's long-term residence, and the large palace in the fiefdom became a decoration.
It was already noon when Qin Liuqi, the steward of Prince Yi's Mansion, returned to the mansion. He walked in and went straight to the backyard to find Yang Yin to report his trip. As if he saw where Yang Yin was, he found Prince Yi who was barbecuing by the small pond in the backyard without taking a single wrong step.
"Received?"
Yang Yin asked Qin Liuqi lightly when he saw him coming back. He quickly withdrew his eyes and focused on the barbecue in front of him. He turned the grill slowly and evenly, and the lamb was golden brown and ready to be enjoyed. A low table was placed next to Yang Yin, with many condiments placed on it. The most distinguished prince of the Sui Dynasty seemed to enjoy the process of roasting meat, and carefully applied the sauce on the roasted lamb. His hands were clean and slender, as beautiful as a woman's hands.
"Received."
Qin Liuqi lowered his head and answered.
"What did you say?"
Yang Yin asked again.
¡°I didn¡¯t refuse or decline, I just said something very serious.¡±
Qin Liuqi said: "The soft armor is made of black gold silk from the Western Regions. It is thin and light, but it is not heavy."
Yang Yin smiled and said: "He is not talking about Wu Jin's soft armor and heavy armor, but that the favor he received is too heavy. Fang Jie is a smart man and knows how to climb up. He also has self-awareness and knows what he cannot refuse. I I like this kind of young man. As long as he is motivated and has the desire to climb, he will quickly adapt to some rules in the officialdom. He knows that he does not have the strength to refuse my kindness, so he simply accepts it. "
Qin Liuqi said: "I feel that since he is a smart man, is it a bit false to express his position so quickly?"
Yang Yin couldn't help laughing, pointed to the Hu stool in front of him and said: "Sit down and talk, and see if Gu's craftsmanship has improved again."
Qin Liuqi did not refuse and sat opposite Yang Yin. He first rested his hands in the water basin on one side, then took the knife handed over by Prince Yi and began to slice the meat. The lamb was roasted just right, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, so tender that when it was cut open, there was even a layer of water on the inside.
"Do you think he expressed his stance so easily?"
Yang Yin put a piece of mutton into his mouth and said while chewing: "Before you return to the house, it is estimated that the news that he collected a piece of precious armor has already reached His Majesty's ears. This is nothing in itself. Gu didn't intend to hide anything he could from anyone, and Fang Jie knew this very well. There was no need for him to refuse Gu, and His Majesty would not think that he was a good minister just because he didn't accept Gu's gift. Because he accepted the gift from Gu, I thought he was a speculative villain. "
"Making a statement is inherently boring and boring. I have never forced anyone to take sides, because I don't want too much."
Yang Yin paused and signaled Qin Liuqi to continue turning the grill: "I just admire this young man's intelligence and look after him for the court, right? I'm not in the court and have no real power, but I am still a great Sui Dynasty The prince is your Majesty¡¯s younger brother, so on behalf of the royal family, would you care about giving some favor to the future pillars of the imperial court?¡±
He pinched some powder and sprinkled it on the meat slices. He was silent for a while and continued: "What did the courtiers say?"
Qin Liuqi said: "Seventy-eight out of ten people are waiting for your instructions, Your Majesty. As long as Your Majesty is really disappointed with the war in the northwest, it will only be sooner or later to deal with Prince Xu and Minister of War Mou Liangbi." The governors of the three northwest provinces and the generals of the various guards have no good impressions of Prince Xu and Mou Liangbi, who has risen from prisoner to Minister of War, and naturally they will not obey their instructions easily. "
"Discord is of no benefit to the war. Your Majesty will not tolerate the delay of the war in the Northwest, let alone the chaos of the war. As long as they work harder, Prince Xu and Mou Liangbi will be able to leave the Northwest in embarrassment. It's not far away. As long as the two of them can't stay in the northwest, your majesty will appoint a new person to take charge of the northwest war it must be the prince. As long as your majesty reveals the slightest intention of changing the person, the courtiers will naturally let him hear it. your name."
Prince Yi Yang Yin hummed and said: "Don't be too hasty, it would be bad if you do it too obviously. My fourth brother seems to be a soft-tempered person, but if he really gets angry, no one can handle it. If he is allowed to If he feels that he is being coerced, then no one will have a good time. This matter is not urgent You should go back and arrange for people to rush to the northwest and tell Li Yuanshan and the others about this matter.Take your time, the battle won't be over in a short while. In order not to arouse suspicion, you can win the battlewin first and then lose, and the defeat will be more and more tragic, this will be real. "
"Find a few people. The first thing to do is to find Mou Liangbi, not to write a memorial and submit it. The logistics and supplies of the 700,000-strong army in the northwest are all in the hands of Mou Liangbi. Tens of millions of supplies, millions of civilians, Is it possible to make mistakes? As long as you are willing to look for it, you can still find a lot of them. Although Gu¡¯s cousin Yang Kai is a little stupid, he is not stupid. As long as Mou Liangbi is taken down, he may submit his resignation He is from the royal family, and I don¡¯t want to embarrass him too much.¡±
"Your Majesty is kind."
Qin Liuqi said: "What my subordinates are confused about is that since your goal is the northwest, why do you want to win over Fang Jie so early? Even if he is a talented person, it may take more than two years to use him. By then, the war in the northwest Maybe it¡¯s already closed and he can still use it?¡±
"Liu Qi, you chose this name well. You only have six or seven points of thinking, and the other two or three points make you look like a fool."
Yang Yin smiled and said: "If Your Majesty decrees that Mou Liangbi and Yang Kai be taken away, in order to balance the situation, he will naturally move some lonely people. The first one to bear the brunt is Li Xiaozong. That guy is a pawn in the first place. It's okay to lose him." It's a pity to lose him, but as far as Meng Yuan knows, there is no one in the Northwest Army who can compare with him, so he will be used by His Majesty as a vanguard If he is abandoned by then, who will take his place? ?¡±
"Now besides Fang Jie, who else can understand Meng Yuan and the Mandu flag as well as Li Xiaozong? Don't forget Fang Jie's identity before coming to Chang'an. He was the deputy of the scout team. Li Xiaozong's vs. Meng Yuan vs. Mandu flag Qi's understanding was all told to him through Fang Jie's mouth. As long as Gu goes to the northwest to take charge of military affairs, his majesty will take the initiative to take Fang Jie out of the martial arts academy and hand it over to Gu. "
"Exchanging a piece of precious armor for a useful vanguard is not a bad deal."
Yang Yin smiled, with a little pride.
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The snow finally stopped when it was getting dark. It is not common for two big enough snows to fall in ten days. The servants of Chang'an Prefecture were busy again, hiring carriages from large cart shops to pull the snow out of the streets. There is no shortage of Liba waiting to find work in the city, and the government will not squeeze them out of the thirty copper coins they deserve.
The snow in the martial arts academy is naturally cleaned by servants, and the students are not in a good mood just because it snows. The murder of five Yanwu Academy students could not be concealed, and the news quickly spread wildly in the courtyard. After class, everyone gathered together to talk about this topic.
Most of the attitude was anger, not much fear.
After so many years since the founding of the Sui Dynasty, this is the first time someone dares to provoke the Yanwu Academy. No one would doubt that this murderer would eventually be captured, let alone that this person would be crushed into powder by the laws of the Sui Dynasty. In everyone's discussion, Fang Jie's class has obviously become the one at the forefront.
The five students who died were all from this class, so people can¡¯t be without suspicion. All kinds of strange speculations were rampant in the martial arts academy, and some even suspected that the murderer was targeting Fang Jie. Otherwise, why weren¡¯t students from other classes dead?
Fang Jie had no time to pay attention to this boring and somewhat malicious speculation. After he returned to his room, he stared at the treasured armor that was said to be produced in the Western Regions. Prince Yi sent someone to travel such a long way to deliver such an expensive gift. Even a fool would know what it meant.
Looking at the soft armor with a metallic luster, Fang Jie couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.
¡°It¡¯s been twelve years, and you still haven¡¯t given up the idea of ??returning to the court Power is indeed the biggest temptation for men, not even beauty can compare with it.
Since Prince Yi is willing to lower his status and take the initiative to win over Fang Jie, will he win over fewer people in the past twelve years? Fang Jie didn't need to think hard to guess that there were definitely not a few adults in the court who were willing to speak for Prince Yi. He couldn't help but want to laugh, thinking that even I could see it, couldn't His Majesty see it?
¡°When Your Majesty killed the Minister of War, Hou Junci, and dismissed the Minister of War in anger, how could he get away with Prince Yi? It's just that His Majesty's beating method obviously didn't make His Highness the Prince change his mind. The war in the northwest was the biggest event in the Sui Dynasty for more than 20 years. If Prince Yi wanted to return to the court and take power, there was no more direct and quick way than to personally control this war and win.
As long as he can go to the northwest to preside over the war and return in triumph, His Majesty will have no reason to prevent a prince who has made great achievements from returning to the court.
But, will His Majesty really fulfill Prince Yi¡¯s wish?
Just when Fang Jie was in a daze, the door was pushed open with a creak from the outside, and female professor Qiu Yu walked in slowly.??, his face seemed a little unhappy.
"Did you accept Prince Yi's gift?"
She asked directly as soon as she entered the door.
"Received"
Fang Jie answered simply and neatly.
"Why?"
Qiu Yu asked.
Fang Jie pointed to the soft armor on the bed and said with a smile, "It's a good thing."
"It's that simple?"
Qiu Yu asked again.
"It's that simple."
Fang Jie nodded.
Qiu Yu walked over, picked up the soft armor, looked at it, and said, "It's indeed a good thing What if he didn't give you this, but a banknote worth tens of thousands of taels of silver, or two flower-like gifts?" Jade beauty, will you accept it?"
"Take it."
Fang Jie said matter-of-factly: "As long as it is delivered to your door, I will never refuse it."
"Do you know that you are setting yourself on fire?"
Qiu Yu said with some annoyance: "Even if you come from a remote place, even if you haven't seen any treasures, are you really an idiot? Is Prince Yi someone you can provoke now?"
Fang Jie smiled, poured a cup of tea and handed it to Qiu Yu: "Sir just because I can't afford to offend Prince Yi, do you think I have the strength to refuse? Even if His Majesty thinks I am a useful talent, Yi Do you think it would be difficult for the prince to kill me? If I don¡¯t accept it, I¡¯d be an idiot!¡±
Qiu Yu was startled and couldn't help but said angrily: "Are you so afraid of losing your future?"
"Afraid!"
Fang Jie said seriously: "Otherwise, why would I enter the martial arts academy?"
Qiu Yu didn't have any words to refute this, so she became even more angry: "But have you ever thought about it, if His Majesty finds out about this, if he wants you to lose your future and your life, it will be easier than Prince Yi." many?"
"Won't"
Fang Jie smiled and said: "You underestimate the emperor too much, and you underestimate Prince Yi too much."
Fang Jie took off his robe and put on the soft armor. He turned around in a circle and asked Qiu Yu: "Is it suitable?"
"This soft armor can stop a sword, but it can't stop others who want to kill you!"
Qiu Yu said harshly, turned around and left.
Fang Jie smiled bitterly, looked at Qiu Yu's back and said, "Sir your fault is that you still didn't see clearly. I put away my soft armor what I blocked was the murderous intention."